If you could build your digital team from scratch, how would you do it? In this session, Duncan Stephen draws on his experience of building new digital teams, having found himself doing so in two different situations at different institutions – the University of St Andrews and SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College). Duncan considers the challenges and opportunities presented by building a new team and examines the contrasts between his experiences at the two institutions.
Increasing your Learning Network – Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the Melrose...Joshua Murdock
This presentation is geared toward educators, administrators, and other who want to expand their personal learning network. PLNs are important to learn, connect, and enhance yourself as lifelong learners.
For Companies who want to create Smart Services, the Digital Team Platform provides Digital Leadership which enables dynamic value creation with customers by networking cross-boundary interactions.
Increasing your Learning Network – Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the Melrose...Joshua Murdock
This presentation is geared toward educators, administrators, and other who want to expand their personal learning network. PLNs are important to learn, connect, and enhance yourself as lifelong learners.
For Companies who want to create Smart Services, the Digital Team Platform provides Digital Leadership which enables dynamic value creation with customers by networking cross-boundary interactions.
Italy Agriculture Equipment Market Outlook to 2027harveenkaur52
Agriculture and Animal Care
Ken Research has an expertise in Agriculture and Animal Care sector and offer vast collection of information related to all major aspects such as Agriculture equipment, Crop Protection, Seed, Agriculture Chemical, Fertilizers, Protected Cultivators, Palm Oil, Hybrid Seed, Animal Feed additives and many more.
Our continuous study and findings in agriculture sector provide better insights to companies dealing with related product and services, government and agriculture associations, researchers and students to well understand the present and expected scenario.
Our Animal care category provides solutions on Animal Healthcare and related products and services, including, animal feed additives, vaccination
1.Wireless Communication System_Wireless communication is a broad term that i...JeyaPerumal1
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors.
Wireless communication is a broad term that incorporates all procedures and forms of connecting and communicating between two or more devices using a wireless signal through wireless communication technologies and devices.
Features of Wireless Communication
The evolution of wireless technology has brought many advancements with its effective features.
The transmitted distance can be anywhere between a few meters (for example, a television's remote control) and thousands of kilometers (for example, radio communication).
Wireless communication can be used for cellular telephony, wireless access to the internet, wireless home networking, and so on.
Bridging the Digital Gap Brad Spiegel Macon, GA Initiative.pptxBrad Spiegel Macon GA
Brad Spiegel Macon GA’s journey exemplifies the profound impact that one individual can have on their community. Through his unwavering dedication to digital inclusion, he’s not only bridging the gap in Macon but also setting an example for others to follow.
This 7-second Brain Wave Ritual Attracts Money To You.!nirahealhty
Discover the power of a simple 7-second brain wave ritual that can attract wealth and abundance into your life. By tapping into specific brain frequencies, this technique helps you manifest financial success effortlessly. Ready to transform your financial future? Try this powerful ritual and start attracting money today!
Meet up Milano 14 _ Axpo Italia_ Migration from Mule3 (On-prem) to.pdfFlorence Consulting
Quattordicesimo Meetup di Milano, tenutosi a Milano il 23 Maggio 2024 dalle ore 17:00 alle ore 18:30 in presenza e da remoto.
Abbiamo parlato di come Axpo Italia S.p.A. ha ridotto il technical debt migrando le proprie APIs da Mule 3.9 a Mule 4.4 passando anche da on-premises a CloudHub 1.0.
APNIC Foundation, presented by Ellisha Heppner at the PNG DNS Forum 2024APNIC
Ellisha Heppner, Grant Management Lead, presented an update on APNIC Foundation to the PNG DNS Forum held from 6 to 10 May, 2024 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Italy Agriculture Equipment Market Outlook to 2027harveenkaur52
Agriculture and Animal Care
Ken Research has an expertise in Agriculture and Animal Care sector and offer vast collection of information related to all major aspects such as Agriculture equipment, Crop Protection, Seed, Agriculture Chemical, Fertilizers, Protected Cultivators, Palm Oil, Hybrid Seed, Animal Feed additives and many more.
Our continuous study and findings in agriculture sector provide better insights to companies dealing with related product and services, government and agriculture associations, researchers and students to well understand the present and expected scenario.
Our Animal care category provides solutions on Animal Healthcare and related products and services, including, animal feed additives, vaccination
1.Wireless Communication System_Wireless communication is a broad term that i...JeyaPerumal1
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors.
Wireless communication is a broad term that incorporates all procedures and forms of connecting and communicating between two or more devices using a wireless signal through wireless communication technologies and devices.
Features of Wireless Communication
The evolution of wireless technology has brought many advancements with its effective features.
The transmitted distance can be anywhere between a few meters (for example, a television's remote control) and thousands of kilometers (for example, radio communication).
Wireless communication can be used for cellular telephony, wireless access to the internet, wireless home networking, and so on.
Bridging the Digital Gap Brad Spiegel Macon, GA Initiative.pptxBrad Spiegel Macon GA
Brad Spiegel Macon GA’s journey exemplifies the profound impact that one individual can have on their community. Through his unwavering dedication to digital inclusion, he’s not only bridging the gap in Macon but also setting an example for others to follow.
This 7-second Brain Wave Ritual Attracts Money To You.!nirahealhty
Discover the power of a simple 7-second brain wave ritual that can attract wealth and abundance into your life. By tapping into specific brain frequencies, this technique helps you manifest financial success effortlessly. Ready to transform your financial future? Try this powerful ritual and start attracting money today!
Meet up Milano 14 _ Axpo Italia_ Migration from Mule3 (On-prem) to.pdfFlorence Consulting
Quattordicesimo Meetup di Milano, tenutosi a Milano il 23 Maggio 2024 dalle ore 17:00 alle ore 18:30 in presenza e da remoto.
Abbiamo parlato di come Axpo Italia S.p.A. ha ridotto il technical debt migrando le proprie APIs da Mule 3.9 a Mule 4.4 passando anche da on-premises a CloudHub 1.0.
APNIC Foundation, presented by Ellisha Heppner at the PNG DNS Forum 2024APNIC
Ellisha Heppner, Grant Management Lead, presented an update on APNIC Foundation to the PNG DNS Forum held from 6 to 10 May, 2024 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
12. Afterwards Tom and Eric weren’t exactly sure at which point during their discussion the
elephant had entered the room by David Blackwell, on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/7nhMYE
Relationship with the web team
@DuncanBSS #iwmw16 #p6
36. By Kyknoord from Cape Town, South Africa - The path is never straight, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10722973
Next steps
@DuncanBSS #iwmw16 #p6
Before that I worked for the University of St Andrews.
In both institutions I have found myself building new teams within existing contexts.
Two very different situations at very different organisations.
Interesting to compare those experiences.
Gareth has covered a lot of this story, so I won’t dwell too much.
It was my first proper grown up job.
I grew a lot very quickly.
St Andrews was a fantastic learning environment for me.
Gareth and Steve - great mentors.
I learned about how to choose the perfect URL.
Web management, best practice, agile.
I learned to be really careful about how to position social media icons.
I learned a lot about internal politics.
In five years at St Andrews I worked for four different service units and had more bosses than I care to remember.
Navigating choppy political waters is absolutely key to getting anything done.
I also learned about running a team.
Digital communications team.
I dug a tunnel to Admissions.
I was seconded to Admissions to redesign pages for student recruitment.
Enabled us to break the cycle of the damaging position the web team were in at the time.
Lots of chat about how best to structure digital in an organisation.
Various ideas discussed at previous IWMW events and elsewhere.
Interesting to try out something different and experience it for myself.
Working for Admissions:
Very different environment to being in a central team.
IT or Communications culture can bring ‘ivory tower’ mentality.
Most valuable aspect: The conversation in the corridor.
Absolutely vital for:
Building trust with the Admissions team.
I was no longer an outsider to be suspicious of.
I was part of their team.
So my advice was taken much more seriously.
We saw that we all had the same agenda, and worked together to pursue it.
Generating ideas.
Learning about users.
Jared Spool talks about time with users being the most valuable thing to do if you want a good user experience.
Don’t often get this chance when working in a traditional central IT team.
In Admissions we did do a fair amount of usability testing, focus groups, etc.
But I still didn’t spend a significant amount of time overall with our users.
But I did spend a lot of time with a lot of people who do go out and speak to prospective students very frequently.
Valuable insight into differences between different types of audience as well.
Colleagues in Admissions were very knowledgable about their users, even if they didn’t always know how to make a good website from that knowledge.
Important lesson.
It’s easy if you are in a central team to think you are the centre of the universe and the fount of all knowledge.
But you don’t know everything!
Part of our role as digital managers may be to educate our colleagues.
But it’s also to learn from others.
It is a two-way relationship.
Our job is to coordinate and join it all up.
To manage it, not dictate it.
But working this way was not sustainable.
For one, I was only focusing on Admissions. What about the rest of the university?
For another thing, the expectation on my shoulders was now huge.
I was expected to:
Determine new IA.
Audit and rewrite all content (hundreds of pages).
Strengthen content management processes.
Come up with a visual design.
Code it up and programme the CMS.
Meanwhile I had my own aim:
To change culture and embed a more user-centred approach.
All in a matter of a months.
Individually those tasks were all within my abilities, but I was spread too thinly.
Eventually - after a few false starts - I managed to persuade management to hire some more people to help me out.
Web designer with focus on visual impact.
Web team had lots of technical expertise.
But no one had an exclusive focus on UI and visual design.
Opportunity to fill that gap.
Admissions and Comms managers’ were requesting better visual impact.
They wanted us to “make it pop”.
We found Lewis Wake, who has a brilliant visual eye.
Content editor to lead on issues surrounding content.
We banged on a lot about how content should come first and how it is the most important aspect of any web project.
That is true.
Yet we had never pushed for dedicated content resource!
This was the ideal opportunity to change that.
We found Carley Hollis, who hit the ground running and challenged everyone straight away.
Those aspects helped distinguish the new team from the existing web team.
We had formed the digital communications team.
By hiring two great people, things really ramped up.
A few months later the website was launched.
This was the product of our efforts - Study at St Andrews.
And then we were promptly moved to Corporate Communications.
Our remit changed once again.
Now our focus was on the whole external facing website.
Still exciting work.
The elephant in the room.
I wanted to retain the new ways of working we had developed, and continue to harness the huge enthusiasm of my new team members.
But I was anxious to carefully manage relationship with the web team.
I knew we would have to rely heavily on them to help produce our work.
The web team were and are my friends and mentors.
Here we are last year looking at the solar eclipse - some of us more safely than others.
I also knew that there was a good chance that the new team would be merged back into the web team.
Having two separate teams was not sustainable.
So keeping good relations was key.
We merged again, but it was a long, difficult and frustrating process.
The rewards came, as Gareth explained.
But it was time for me to move on - for a variety of reasons.
That teaspoon I used to dig to Admissions came in very handy, as I used it to dig a bigger tunnel.
I ended up in Edinburgh at SRUC - Scotland’s Rural College.
Focuses on agriculture, land and the rural sector.
Similarly sized to St Andrews in terms of student and staff numbers, but very different in nature.
When I started, people warned me about the politics.
In fact, in my experience it has not been remotely as political at St Andrews - or at least, it is different.
But it does have its challenges.
SRUC formed in 2012.
Merger between four colleges:
Barony College
Elmwood College
Oatridge College
Scottish Agricultural College (SAC)
Itself an amalgamation of three colleges that merged in the 1990s.
Three separate divisions covering different aspects of the business:
Education
We provide education at all levels from college access courses right up to PhD.
Vocational skills training.
Research
These aspects are delivered quite separately. No strong relationship between the two, unlike many universities.
Although this will change with a plan to merge Education and Research to create an Academic division.
SAC Consulting
Commercial arm.
Services for farmers and other rural businesses.
Lots of work carried out on behalf of government.
Major part of the business.
Six education campuses, spread all across Scotland.
Additional research facilities.
Several Consulting offices.
One of them is in Benbecula, an island with a population of around 1,000.
We genuinely cover all of Scotland.
In fact, more than that - because we also have an office in Kendal.
This makes it pretty difficult to have that conversation in the corridor.
...and I thought content management was a challenge at St Andrews with people dispersed throughout the town.
Political challenges.
Different in nature to St Andrews, but still there.
Challenging environment for FE in Scotland.
FE institutions encouraged to merge.
Sensitivities as a result.
Felt across the whole FE sector in Scotland.
Financial pressures.
So that sets the scene in terms of what SRUC is.
I had a new job there!
I was the new web manager.
Heading up a small team of two, based in Communications.
Both posts were vacant before I started.
There had been a web manager before, but she had left several weeks before I began.
No real handover.
There is a web designer, so I was not entering a complete vacuum.
Works for the IS department.
Works on a different floor.
Has a different boss.
Has a different agenda.
Attention focused as much on internal web apps as the external facing website I am responsible for.
Works part-time.
Didn’t necessarily know the answers to all my questions about aspects like content management and so on.
Once again a one man band.
But now it was as if I was learning the instruments on the job as well.
I could take what I could glean from the web designer and my colleagues in Communications.
But apart from that, I had to work out a lot of stuff for myself.
How to get stuff done at SRUC.
How the CMS worked.
Why had previous decisions been made?
Some things that didn’t make sense at first glance, but I thought there must have been a reason why.
What was the content management process, if there was one?
One person told me, “your predecessor just let me do what I want!”
I mentioned there was one other vacant post.
Digital communications officer.
Post had been vacant for even longer than the web manager post.
But SRUC wanted to hire the web manager first.
Digital communications officer to focus on social media as well as assisting on the web.
Different approach to St Andrews.
At St Andrews I felt like I was learning from my supposedly junior colleagues all the time.
Important because of the fast-moving nature of digital.
I’m 30, which means I’m well over the hill in terms of digital.
We found a great person with strong expertise on rural matters.
Will Millership.
No particular digital background.
Strong background as a comms generalist.
Useful in a small comms operation.
He also picks up digital concepts very quickly, which is brilliant.
Rural expertise is vital because I have no particular specialist knowledge on rural affairs.
Handy for reaching rural audiences on social media, particularly for reaching rural businesses, communicating research, and attracting prospective students.
So it works really well.
There is another person.
Digital marketing officer.
Based in Education.
Designed to give someone the space to think specifically about digital.
I was involved in approving the post and hiring the individual.
Also part-time.
Fixed term.
Another department.
Another campus.
Rich Gordon.
In practice he mainly focuses on social media, and works closely with Will.
We have a team!
A fresh start, right?
Nope…
Digital roadmap.
This was put together by an external agency with the assistance of the previous web manager.
I have protected the identity of the agency in case I am accidentally rude about them.
November 2014 - seven months before I started.
Some of the work outlined had already been carried out.
But most was still to be done.
It had lain dormant for a while due to the departure of the previous digital team.
My job was to validate it.
Speak to those stakeholders again.
Were these projects still relevant?
How could they be pushed forward?
Look at timescales, which had all slipped.
First issue: Course finder.
Case study of the challenges we had more generally kick-starting the work.
Roadmap talked about a small UI tweak, and it had already been done.
Talking to Education division, more fundamental issues quickly emerged.
Anecdotal evidence that users were struggling to find the Apply Now link.
Looking at it, I can’t say I was surprised.
But the fact that the Education department felt that Course finder didn’t meet their original brief was news to central colleagues in Comms and IS.
I’d also put my foot in it before I even began working at SRUC.
At my job interview I was asked to come up with ways to improve the website.
I featured course finder, and apparently my proposal to simplify it was one of the reasons I was offered the job.
So we set about redesigning it.
Lots of extra work redoing this all.
But my lack of knowledge on the history of the project had some good points.
I wasn’t precious about radically changing it.
Some constraints.
Very slow moving projects.
All 12 items on the Digital Roadmap are moving forward.
All running concurrently, but in fits and starts.
It’s a snail race.
Sometimes tangible progress is hard to come by.
Only two of 12 projects complete so far.
No-one’s fault.
A function of where SRUC is as an organisation just now.
An example: Alumni and friends section.
Original deadline: January 2015.
It was given to me as my top priority when I began in June 2015.
Subject to delays for a wide variety of reasons beyond my control.
Finally launched in April 2016.
Less ability to directly influence the design than I am used to.
Much smaller team.
Half FTE web designer, who works on other projects as well.
We have little access to the website design anyway.
Design is effectively outsourced to our CMS vendor.
Unable to implement a change to one line of CSS that I could easily do myself.
It would cost money to make a tiny tweak that would take me a few minutes.
So I can’t change the font to Comic Sans on a whim.
Many success stories.
Not just pointing at monitors, although we are great at that.
Despite the difficulties of starting from scratch, there have been a lot of benefits to the fresh start.
Fresh pairs of eyes to multiple projects.
New training programmes.
Implementing improved content management processes.
More proactive management of social media.
Next steps forward:
Where does this leave things like UX or digital transformation?
Position of the organisation means it thinks it has bigger priorities.
It might be right!
Many people are oddly uninterested in the website.
Digital is still not seen by everyone as the best way to reach people in rural areas with poor internet speeds.
Platforms and channels are ‘owned’ by different individuals.
Course applications system primarily looked after by someone in IS.
Although I have suggestions to improve it, we are limited in our scope to do so.
Intranet - nothing to do with me.
VLE - nothing to do with me.
In practice I leave Will to do social media.
I only look after the comms element of the external facing website.
I would like to create a cow path.
Long run.
Help organisation achieve cohesive experience across all these applications.
Vital to a good user experience and student satisfaction.